I, like many others, think South West Trains is due to be introduced to TSW5. Before doing a route to the mighty Waterloo station, I think a route like this should be made to introduce the class 450 and class 444, as then when the time comes to go to Waterloo, the only new train required would be the class 455. The route into Waterloo is also massively complex. I chose this particular section of track over Portsmouth to Woking (which I *think* would be the first choice from DTG for an SWT route) because you are far enough from London that it won't feel as frustrating when you are booted off the train compared to Woking. I think this route has some interesting landmarks and unique operating practices. Time period: 2017 The route: Starting from Winchester, you head south through countryside and fields, then passing through the various yards at Eastleigh, where there would be various services shunting freight wagons. You now reach Southampton Airport Parkway, for Southampton International Airport. Here, it would be nice to see Q400 aircraft, in both their purple and white liveries. After passing St. Denys station, you run alongside the water before passing Northam Train care depot, where the class 450 & 444 are maintained. You then pass St. Mary's stadium, home of the mighty Southampton FC. You then take a sharp turn west, into a tunnel before arriving into Southampton Central, which in all honesty, is rather drab. After this, you pass a cruise ship terminal and Southampton Western Docks. A personal request of mine would be to have the Queen Mary II seen here. The estuary of the River Test is then crossed. The docks can be seen to the south, and marshes and electricity pylons can be seen to the North. After running through the various warehouses in Totton, you are running in the New Forest national park, where you can see horses, cows and deer. You would also be able to see the towers of the Fawley oil refinery in the distance. At Brockenhurst, you can branch off to Lymington Pier where you can catch Wightlink ferries to the Isle of Wight. Bournemouth station has 4 platforms and a canopy covering the station. It is here where 10 car trains split to become 5 car trains and one 5 car set crosses over to the eastbound platform to connect to the next 5 car train to form a 10 car train to London. At Branksome, there is a short spur that takes you to Bournemouth Depot. The route passes through Parkstone before reaching the final station of Poole. Route length is about 50 miles, including the Lymington branch. Rolling stock: Class 444 (runs mostly express services along the route, and some stopping Poole/Portsmouth services.) Class 450 (Runs mainly slower stopping services with some express duties, as well as the Lymington branch at weekends.) Class 158 (Runs the Salisbury to Romsey loop service, driveable between Millbrook and Eastleigh. Class 158s also operated the Lymington branch during weekdays.) Class 66 (Runs container traffic to the Freightliner terminal at Southampton) Class 08 (Shunting at the container port at Southampton) Layers: Class 377 at Southampton Central, Class 166 at Southampton Central, RHTT, various stock at Eastleigh. At some point, an East Midlands Trains HST traversed the route for a railtour to Swanage, so it would be really nice if that was included. Things about this route that makes it different from others: -Joining/splitting of class 444/450s at both Bournemouth and Southampton Central -Includes various yards at Eastleigh, which is a major part of the UK railway network. -Branch line operations (Lymington). -A very good opportunity for more Freightliner content -Another good opportunity to add planes (SOU airport) -There is an MPV depot near Totton, so there is an opportunity for an MPV DLC -Potential for a CrossCountry class 220/221 DLC -Includes various depots/sidings I would like to thank all who took the time to read my suggestion.
Very good suggestion. I see great service patterns on this route (shunting, joining/splitting, express, regional, and rail tours) and great layers too. The 450 and 444 being the only new trains while others being reskins lowers the workload. And the potential for a cross country dlc is huge. A good kickstart for SWT in tsw
VERY detailed suggestion! i do think that it should include the 170 for the romsey commuter as they used to run it!
